Standalone Dual-Axis Solar Tracker System with Battery Charger and Arduino

Solar panels have become more popular in recent years for converting solar energy into electrical energy. The solar panel can be used as a standalone device or as part of a larger solar array that connected to the power grid. However, most solar panels are now static, despite the fact that the sun’s location changes from time to time. This will affect the efficiency of the solar in generating energy as well as the time it takes to charge a battery if the solar panel system is an off-grid or acts as a standalone solar panel system since the solar panel can generate the maximum energy when it is perpendicular to the direction of solar radiation. As a result, the focus of this research is on the development of a standalone dual-axis solar tracker system with battery charger. A Light Dependence Resistor (LDR) Sensor is used in the proposed tracker system to sense the intensity of light and provide the output signal in analog to Arduino UNO with ATmega328p microcontroller. Arduino UNO will regulate the rotation of the geared DC motor through the motor driver L298N, causing the motor to rotate the solar panel based on the highest intensity of light. Test results show that the proposed dual-axis solar panel tracker system is able to capture more solar radiation, and consequently create more solar power than the fixed solar panel.